FYI Vol. VI, No. 1

Ringling Will Rise Again, at Least Temporarily

After ten years of partnering with Sarasota’s Circus Arts Conservatory, the Ringling museum is teaming up with Feld Entertainment to present a Summer Circus Spectacular at the historic Asolo Theatre, which is part of the museum complex. It will be interesting to see what kind of show the Feld group will stage on the smallish Asolo stage as most of the acts they present tend to be large troupes or involve animals, or if the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey name will even be used. Stay tuned.

Paul Miller Puts Out a Life-line for Unemployed Circus Performers

Ex Ringling clown and founder of Chicago’s CircEsteem in 2001, Paul Miller moved to Cincinnati/Kentucky in 2008 and created Circus Mojo. He is now in the process of converting an old Movie Theatre into a circus brewery inspired and licensed by Circusplaneet of Belgium: https://bircus.com/bircus-history/ . He is currently waiting on a $10K Grant to buy homes in Kenton County in the hope of utilizing this program to help relocate circus performers to Ludlow, KY. He would then help them find jobs working in the healthcare and education sectors while also performing and selling BIRCUS Beer.

He will also host a job fair/tours March 13-14th while Ringling is in Cincinnati March 10 -19, 2017.

Circus Returning to Manhattan

A new production with elephants called Circus 1903 is set to play Madison Square Garden, April 5 thru 16, in the time slot traditionally given over to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. But here’s the catch: it will play not in the arena, but the theatre Of MSG which means it will be performed on a stage and not with real elephants, but life-sized puppets inspired by the amazngly life-like horses used in the stage production of Warhorse. We shall see if it is better than nothing.

Potential Buyer for Circus Drive-In in NJ

On one of New Jersey’s main route to the shore and its beaches, there has been for many years an ice cream and burger stand called the Circus Drive-In. Atop its roof is a huge neon clown. Its long-time owners recently announced that they were retiring and putting the business up for sale. PETA has announced it is a potential buyer. Continuing their assault on circus, their intention is to retain the name but sell vegan products and establish a museum illustrating how circus animals are abused.

Circus Animals Find a Retirement Home in Upstate New York

With the permanent closing of the Big Apple Circus, which it announced last summer after failing to secure financing for another season, the animal performers became unemployed. Animal advocates worried that they might end up in shelters where they could be euthanized. Instead, the animals have come to live with their Big Apple Circus trainer, Jennifer Vidbel, a third-generation circus trainer. “They retire, and that’s it,” she said. “I’m going to give them this in return for their whole life and make sure they have a great retirement.”